church life – Grace Evangelical Society

Encourage and Build Up One Another (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

September 3, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Church, church life, ecclesiology, one another commands, spirituality

My wife and I bought our house in 2015. It’s our first house. Up till then, we rented—living in apartments and townhomes where we were restricted on what we could do to make the space our own and depending on the landlord to make repairs. Now things are different. The responsibility of maintaining the house

Speak Truth and Do Not Lie to One Another (Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9-10)

August 17, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - church life, metaphysics, one another, one another commands, truth

Our culture has a truth crisis. You can see the crisis at work on many levels. For example, you can see it in journalistic bias, where unquestioned “facts” seem to change week by week. And the confusion over fact and fiction is unmistakable in the crazy posts shared on social media by friends who can’t

Where All Minister (Ephesians 4:11-12)

August 13, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Church, church life, ecclesiology, spiritual growth, spirituality

Free Grace Theology is exciting. It clarifies the freeness of salvation, and in doing that, it clarifies other areas of theology, too. The Free Grace movement involves a reformation of more than one area of theology. For example, did you know that the NT places spiritual growth squarely within the ekklēsia—the believing community? As Paul

Love One Another as Jesus Loved (John 13:34-35; 15:12)

June 22, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Christian Life, church life, ecclesiology, one another commands, spirituality

Is it true that “All love is love”? No. Not everything that calls itself love is loving. And what’s more, not all loves are equal. Did you know that non-Christians can be examples of what it means to love others? As Jesus said, “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that

Why Christians Shouldn’t Be Klingons (1 Thessalonians 5:15)

June 15, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - church life, one another, peace, retaliation, revenge, spirituality, Star Trek, violence

“What makes a man like Ringo, Doc? What makes him do the things he does?” Wyatt Earp asked. “A man like Ringo has got a great big hole, right in the middle of him. He can never kill enough, or steal enough, or inflict enough pain to ever fill it,” Doc Holliday replied. “What does

Comfort One Another with the Rapture and Resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:18)

June 7, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - church life, ecclesiology, one another, spirituality

Have you ever noticed that when people panic, they stop thinking clearly? I remember making a short film with some high school friends. We were shooting in a dry field at the edge of a forest. As the director set up his camera, I got bored and started a teeny tiny fire with a handful

Stir Up Love and Good Works in One Another (Hebrews 10:24)

May 31, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - church life, Discipleship, ecclesiology, one another commands, spirituality

Normal church life is active. Christians should not be passively inhabiting the pews. We live for Christ 24/7, serving Him in all that we do. And that means the churches ought to be actively loving and serving and doing good, often in the face of enormous challenges. But with any activity, people often need encouragement

Even a Kid Can Praise God

May 24, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - church life, Family Worship, praise, Worship

This Sunday, I talked to my children about young David, and we wondered why God chose him instead of his brothers to be king. What made him different? We discussed David’s youth, and I read them the following quote imagining what David would have done in his spare time while tending sheep: On those pastoral

Confess Your Sins to One Another (James 5:16)

May 21, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - church life, Confession, Discipleship, ecclesiology, James, one another commands, spiritual theology

“Honestly, I didn’t want to join a Bible study,” the young mother admitted to the group. “I didn’t want to be around perfect people with perfect lives…Then I found you weirdos!” I think it is comforting to know you’re in a “hospital for the sick, not a social club for saints.” A “thick” Christian community

When Culture Seeks Revenge, the Church Seeks the Good (1 Thessalonians 5:15)

May 4, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - church life, Discipleship, one another commands

Someone asked me how to cultivate a “culture of grace” in his church. That is precisely the right kind of question to ask. Grace should not only define the saving message (Eph 2:8-9), but the entire Christian life, including church life. Paul said we are no longer under law but under grace (Rom 6:14), and